Shattered hopes, new opportunities
by soulreapingninja
Summary: Naruto has defeated Madara, and now is returning to Konoha, battered and bruised. His best motivation is the love of Sakura when he returns to Konoha, but will she want the same thing as him? Maybe a certain hyuuga heiress can help to think otherwise...
1. Chapter 1

This is my first attempt at writing a story that is not based on my own original characters, and my second story overall. My inspiration for this story has come from both the stories of other authors and some of my favorite music; this is a NaruHina story, just because I like the couple and I see a lot of potential for them as characters. Anyways, without further ado, here is my story.

Chapter 1: And so it begins…

Naruto Groaned in agony as he slipped in a puddle of water and fell on his right arm; a sickening crunch could be heard as the bone snapped, followed by a painful scream. Naruto knew he had broken his arm, but to him it didn't matter, seeing as how he had broken it several times already in his lifetime; usually when it happened he could trust his unwanted companion's chakra to mend his wounds, but not this time, no…this time there would be no help from the Kyuubi. He had used it's chakra so much in his last fight after exhausting his own supply that he was amazed with how he was still able to walk, much less retain consciousness.

His battle with Madara had been long and grueling, and despite the fact that he had managed to claim victory he wasn't so sure if he had won out because of superior skill, ability, stamina, or just by pure luck. He had sped off immediately after dealing with the Akatsuki leader, Pain, and went to track down the true mastermind behind the destruction of Konoha, Uchiha Madara. After a brief exchange of words the two clashed, and the battle between two of the strongest shinobi the world had ever seen was underway; Naruto was being dominated by his opponent at the start of the battle, but as the battle wore on and Madara's chakra was diminishing at an exponential rate as the battle raged on, Naruto's held strong.

And now here he was, a mere 30 feet from the edge of the crater that was one Konohagakure, writhing in pain as a storm came in overhead and unleashed it's rain on the smoldering ruins, as if it was weeping for the battered shinobi, who had given so much for a village that had once despised his very existence. Naruto used his left arm to lift himself up slowly, gasping in pain at even the slightest touch on his injured arm. He wouldn't allow himself to fall here, not when he had friends that were counting on him to come back alive, not when it was his dream of being Hokage, and definitely not when he knew that Sakura was there waiting for him. He dragged himself to his feet and continued walking towards his home; even the mere thought of the cherry blossom beauty gave him the strength to go on. As long as she was there waiting for him, he would drag himself home if he had to. 25 feet, his legs were aching from his long journey. 22 feet, the Hokage carvings came into view. 16 feet, makeshift guard towers with Konoha Shinobi manning them could be seen. 11 feet, he was spotted, and the one of the guards called for help. 8 feet, a group of Konoha Shinobi came out to try and help him; he shrugged them off and continued to shuffle towards the edge. 3 feet, he began to see some of the makeshift structures in Konoha's crater, and as he finally reached the edge he was overjoyed to see Sakura's form down at the bottom of the crater at the temporary hospital.

He sped up as best he could and a smile formed on his face as he neared her, until he saw something that shook him to his core; Sakura, his Sakura, was locked in a passionate kiss with Sasuke, his best friend and the cause of so much of his suffering. He was paralyzed with fear, hoping and praying that what he was seeing was an illusion of some sort. His body trembled and tears streamed down his eyes; his chest felt as if it was being crushed by some uncontainable force, while his mind was racing and trying to establish some level of control amidst the chaos. He sobbed and tried to turn away, only to fall face-first in the mud, which alerted the object's of his distress.

"Naruto!" Sakura tore herself from sasuke's embrace and rushed towards Naruto, only to have him scramble to his feet and run off in a dash as he cried.

"Naruto! Wait, Naruto, let me explain! She was about to run to him, but before she could go she felt a hand grab her wrist, and turned around to see Sasuke grasping it.

"There's no point in trying to talk to him right now, he won't listen to reason…" Sasuke said. Sakura looked worried, and was uncertain if he was right. "I can't just let him go without explaining what he saw, we have to tell him about us Sasuke!" She pleaded, but he just shook his head. She sighed and looked back towards the direction that Naruto had sped off in. 'I'm sorry, Naruto.'

Naruto was panicking as he rushed away from them; he was trying to put as much distance possible between him and them. All ideas of rational thought were thrown out the window, and he was simply trying to escape the pain. He turned corners here and there as went through the makeshift housing that was inside of the crater. He turned his head to look behind himself and make sure they weren't following him, only collide with another person. He fell onto his back and winced in pain as his injured arm pushed into the mud. He looked towards the person he had run into and was shocked to see Hinata. He had thought that she had been killed by Pain, and felt himself smiling and crying tears of joy at seeing her alive, and for the moment he forgot about his heart break.

She was just as shocked to see him, and broke out into a blush after seeing his battered and smiling face. She felt happiness spring forth at seeing her love alive and right in front of her. She quickly stood up and offered him a hand to pull him up. He hesitated for a second when he saw her hand extended out to his right, but once she realized that something was wrong she instead grabbed his left hand and hauled him up.

"Hinata! Thank Kami you're alive! Please, forgive me for ever putting your life in danger!" he wrapped his left arm around her and pulled her into as tight of a bear hug as he could. "I thought that I was never going to see you again!" he released her and smiled.

"Nar-naruto-kun…? A-are you ok? Your arm looks hurt, and you…don't seem like yourself. H-here, l-let me take you to get c-checked out…" Hinata had seemed to pick up her old habit of stuttering around him.

"No, I mean, I…I don't want to be a burden to them right now" Hinata could see through his obvious lie, but she could also tell that something was bothering right now, and that something had originated from the hospital. She nodded and decided to bring him back to her temporary place. "Naruto-Kun, I can…take care of you if you want…" he nodded solemnly and followed her.

Hinata led Naruto to a small brown shack, swinging open the metal-sheet used for a door and bringing him to an old scavenged mattress so he could lie down. She helped him remove his shirt, trying her hardest not to blush at the sight of him. "So…wh-where d-does it h-hurt?" he shut his eyes and frowned.

"Everywhere"

"…Is something wrong, Naruto-kun?" He visibly winced before looking away from her. "Sakura…she…she" he choked on his words, and failed in holding back a few tears.

She nodded understandingly, having known for the last couple of days about Sakura's new relationship. She felt her throat get stuck; she knew what it felt like to have somebody you love not return your feelings.

Naruto fell silent, turning to look at her, "Hinata…what's wrong with me? Why…why is it that Sakura couldn't notice me? Am I too loud? Obnoxious? Annoying? I…I just can't see why she's never felt the same way about me that I do for her…" the look on his face broke Hinata's heart; Naruto was so strong, yet at the same time so fragile.

"Naruto…There's nothing wrong with you…Sakura…Sakura just doesn't the same way about you…because….well, honestly, I don't know how to answer your question…" she smiled sadly at him. "Look, I know that this is a serious matter, but If your arm isn't taken care of quickly enough it could become infected…" He nodded and let her look it over. She felt his bicep with her hands, searching for the problem. "the bone is dislocated. I can put it back into place, but it's going to hurt a lot". He nodded once again and closed his eyes when he felt her grab his bicep and push the bone into place. He screamed for a second as he felt this, before lifting his right arm and moving it around to feel if everything was in good, and was surprised when his felt just as good as it had before his fight with Madara. "How did you do that, Hinata?" she blushed before replying "The Byakugan is very effective in the field of medicine, allowing us to see inside the patient's body and discern the ailment with incredible accuracy; it's a skill that makes the Hyuuga clan excellent for the medical field, especially when coupled with excellent chakra control. Now, I should help you find a shack to sleep in seeing as how you would have to be a fool to sleep outside" She began to stand, until he grabbed her hand. She looked at him and saw a pleading sense in his eyes; his hand clutched hers as if it were a lifeline and he were about to fall into hell itself if he let go.

"Hinata…can I stay with you tonight? I…I don't want to be alone…" his tone was filled grief, but she could discern a small amount of hope held in it; she knew that this was brought on by Sakura's rejection and she didn't want to disappoint him once again, but she also didn't want to do it just to advance her relationship with him because she knew it would just bring her more grief. "Hinata…please…I just want to be able to at least pretend that there's a girl out there who likes me…" her heart sunk at that comment; she had always known that he was fragile when it came to his precious people, but she hadn't realized just how much they defined him in life.

"…S-sure…you can stay" his face once again returned to the bright ray of sunshine that it was meant to be, and seeing this made her believe she had made the right choice. She sighed with exhaustion; today had been a hectic day for her. She lay down on the mattress, shutting her eyes until she felt a pair of arms slide around her waist. Naruto hugged her tightly, and she was thankful he didn't see her face turn redder than a tomato. "Don't ever leave me, Hinata…" Her blush grew even bigger, if it was possible, but then a thought crossed her mind; was he saying that just because he wanted to feel close to someone, or was it possible that he considered her more than a friend? She decided that it was probably the former.

"Don't worry…I'll always be here for you…"

End of chapter 1

Now, don't be afraid to criticize my work. I'm honestly happy to receive even a single review, and I just want to know how I can improve upon myself as a writer. Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll find my future chapters entertaining as well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, it's been a long, long time, huh? Well, I promise to start updating this story on a regular basis from now on. To start, I know that my story doesn't follow canon; I basically started to write this around the time of Pein's invasion of Konoha, so you can pretty much see that it is a sort of alternate reality in which Naruto defeats Madara, but the reconstruction of Konoha takes much longer than usual and Sasuke comes back after some point, but still before Naruto returns from defeating Madara. I'm a little unsure about how to tie up some of the loose ends of my storyline, but I'll do my best. Also, I would like to say thank-you to everybody who has read, reviewed, and or added my story to their favorites. Oh, and before I forget I would like to remind everybody of a few facts about my story: first, Naruto was not in a relationship with Sakura, he was just obsessed with her, and second, Hinata did confess her feelings to Naruto but he doesn't remember this event for various reasons. Anyways, on with the story, Enjoy!**

Chapter 2: It's a new day…

Sunlight shone through the scattered cracks and holes found in the meager shed which passed for shelter. The chirping of birds could be heard as the day's hustle and bustle began once more. As the world began to burst into activity once more, a pair of eyes slowly opened. With a few blinks, Hinata awoke to take in the peacefulness of the new day. She smiled as she felt the inviting comfort of her mattress, until she was broken out of her thought-process by the loud snoring of a certain blond-haired shinobi. She looked over to see him sleeping at her side and blushed as she saw his arm wrapped around her and his head resting on her shoulder, a content smile on his face.

Truth be told, Hinata couldn't help but feel guilty at her actions the previous night. She was glad that she could be there to comfort him, but she felt like she had taken advantage of Naruto in his time of weakness. She had seen his heartbreak and wanted nothing more to hold him and tell him it was going to be okay, but it was by pure force of will that she kept herself from doing so. For her to take advantage of him like that would have been despicable, and she wouldn't allow him to be hurt like that twice in his life…especially not by her. But as she pondered about the previous night, the object of her affection began to stir. As his eyes fluttered open, she felt butterflies in her stomach. He let out a deep-breath and uttered a warm yawn as his mind began to wake up, exposing his extremely sharp canines. He turned his head to look at Hinata, and immediately her face turned a deep, crimson red. However, Naruto either chose to ignore her blush or was so out of from just waking up. After a moment, the silence was broken with a few soft words.

"Morning, Hinata…did you sleep good?" his words came out in a slow drawl, and she could tell that he wasn't exactly a morning person.

"I slept great…Na-Naruto" she responded, praying to God that she didn't get back into her habit of stuttering whenever she was talking to him.

"Uggh…oh, boy…" Naruto groaned as he sat up, pulling away his arm from her (much to her disappointment) and putting them both as close to the ceiling as possible. He stopped stretching mid-way, a look of shock on his face.

"Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" she asked quickly, worried that something serious might have happened "is your arm okay?" Naruto's eyes began to twitch and his face began to freeze up. He put his right hand on his stomach, and after a short rumbling, Hinata witnessed the most horrifying, and dare she say hilarious, thing she has ever seen.

"BUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPP!"

There was utter silence for a few moments after he finished, even the birds outside stopped chirping and the ongoing construction work came to a grinding halt. Voices could be heard outside, making a commotion about the enormously loud noise, some even questioning if there was another enemy attack or if there had been an accident. Finally, Naruto decided to break the awkward moment by speaking.

"Wow…I think I broke the sound barrier…Granny Tsunade's gonna be mad…" with these words spoken, Hinata and Naruto burst into laughter. They began to laugh so uncontrollably that Hinata accidently passed gas…loudly. Hinata immediately stopped laughing and turned redder than a tomato once more, which only caused Naruto to laugh even harder.

"Stop! I-I didn't mean to do that, it was an accident!" She yelped out in embarrassment, partly because she had just passed gas, but mostly because she had done so in front of the object of her affection. Her outburst only caused Naruto to laugh much harder, even falling over and clutching his side at one point.

"Hinata…its fine" he spoke, despite the laughter that was coursing through him, "It doesn't matter if you passed gas. Heck, one time when my team was on a mission, Sakura was coming down with a cold and she sneezed all over an old lady's face, mucus and all!" The recollection of his team-mate caused them both to laugh for a while longer, until Naruto suddenly remembered the events of last night and he became silent.

"Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, noticing her companion's sudden change in mood. His expression spoke volumes, his eyes displaying a terrible loss and his frown showing such a pain that it was a wonder to her that he hadn't had a mental breakdown the previous night. She moved next to him and wrapped him in an embrace, feeling his tears stain her shirt and hearing him sobbing faintly, knowing that he was hurting.

"Naruto, look…I know what Sakura meant to you…she was your first love…" admitting that fact pained her beyond belief, but she was confident that she could help him get through this, "but even though it hurts, you have to let it die. You didn't fail at anything and by no means are you unlikable; what happened came about from Sakura's choice…but I know it still hurts. After all, I understand what it's like to have unrequited feelings of love…" Naruto slowly pulled himself from the embrace and looked at her questioningly.

"The same thing happened to you? Who was it?" Hinata froze, shocked that Naruto had apparently forgotten her confession of love. "I've told you about this, Naruto, don't you remember?" he shook his head and then spoke up.

"No, but I did take a hit or two to the head when I was I tracking down Madara. I stopped at a hospital to have a quick check-up and they told me that I might have some memory loss…I guess they were right". Hinata was amazed at what she was hearing, but she was just beginning to realize what this meant.

_'I can start over! I can really pursue him, now…the right way!'_ She thought with glee. Her mind was abuzz with the possibilities of what could happen and she was entertaining each one of the thoughts until she realized the implications of them. _'Wait a second…is it wrong me for to use this to my advantage? Assuming that it all worked out and he was mine, could I live with myself? Would I be able to sleep at night?' _She pondered these thoughts, just now noticing Naruto waving his hands in front of her face and calling her name.

"Hinata, are you okay? I just asked you who it was and you zoned out…is it not something you want to talk about?" Hinata frowned at seeing his worry, feeling guilty about her thoughts and confused about how to proceed. "Yeah, I'm fine, maybe I'll tell you about it later".

Hinata decided to take her time figuring out how to proceed next, and for now she would just enjoy his company.

"Anyways, you must be hungry, Naruto…how about I treat you to Ichiraku?" she smiled as she made this offer, knowing that Naruto will definitely want to visit his favorite eating-establishment before the day ends.

"Of course I want some Ichiraku, who do you think you're talking to? Now, let's get going!" he grabbed and began to pull her along with him as he ran to the ramen stand. However, he was forgetting one important thing…

"Naruto, we haven't even changed out of our pj's!" unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears and a ramen-starved stomach.

_'Oh, boy, this is going to be bad…'_ Hinata thought, not knowing just how right she was…

END OF CHAPTER

**Alright, I'm sure many of you have noticed that this chapter is much shorter than the first; I have decided to make some chapters short and some chapters long, depending on what precisely is happening at that point in the story. I realized after I submitted my first chapter that this story would have been much better if it was a one-chapter one-shot, but I decided to go onwards because I want to finally finish up a whole story rather than cut it off after the first couple of chapters. I am planning on making this story around ten chapters long, but I might shorten or lengthen it if the need arises. I hope you enjoyed my writing, and don't forget to review! Seriously…please review, I need all the help I can get!**


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